obfuscated.org

So I’ve got this XSD file that describes some data that I need to generate. This pleases me. Having a schema is always Martha Stewart. However: Damn do I hate reading XML. I don’t know why those Java people get in to it quite so much.

So what I want to know is this: Has anybody written a tool that will go from XSD to something BNF-ish and back again? I would love to be able to edit (or even just read!) a grammar in a way that makes sense (i.e., not XML) but still have the computer be able to easily do its thing with the XSD file.

Does anybody know of a quality roofing contractor in/around the SGV? Stephanie and I need to have some minor repairs made to the roof — re-mastic a few spots, fix the way the ridge nails are done, etc. — and would welcome any recommendations.

Can anybody recommend a good Applescript reference? I’ve got some ugly jobs that I want to automate, which seems like a good opportunity to pick up a new tool. Here’s what I want to do:

I’m moving my photos from Picasa — which I love dearly and will miss, but I never use my Windows PC any more, so it seems sort of daft to keep my photos there — to iPhoto. Picasa has a really cool “export” feature that can dump all of your photos out to disk in directories named after the albums you’ve created. I want to import all of these in to iPhoto, preserving the album names from Picasa. Seems pretty straightforward, no?

Anyway, pointers to good web Applescript references or even book recommendations would be appreciated. Alternately, if there’s an easy way to automate this sort of thing in other tools — Python in particular — that’d almost be better. (Although learning a new tool may or may not be the larger objective here.)

My uncle posted pictures of a toy racecar that he’s trying to identify. Do any of you know anything about this car?

My corporate-issue backpack has decided to bite the dust just before I leave on a short trip. I’d quite like to have a working backpack and I’m not confidant that The Man can provide me with a new one on such short notice, so I’m likely going to pick one up myself this weekend. Can anybody recommend a quality backpack? I’m looking for something that can capably hold a laptop, a jacket and a stack of books and won’t fall apart inside of a year. Thanks!

Hey there, The Magic Internet Machine!

I’m going to be in Chicago with my son and parents next Wednesday. We fly in to Midway in the middle of the afternoon and subsequently schlep out to Woodstock, IL for Thanksgiving and what have you. I’d like to stop for dinner in Chicago. Ideally it would be someplace casual enough for people in traveling clothes to stop in yet nice enough to be memorable. Local cuisine is greatly preferable. Where do you recommend? It’s been ten years since I’ve spent any amount of time in the city proper, so I’ve no idea of what’s good currently.

I had a nice little email conversation today with the Word of Blog folks. They addressed my concerns regarding their service, specifically the reason for the redirects through their site. From their email:

Regarding the redirects, they indeed serve multiple purposes: a) It enables Recovery 2.0 to track clicks (if you take a look at http://www.wordofblog.net/info.php?id=291, you’ll see on the left side the list of the blogs which posted the badge and how many clicks they generated so far), so that they know who their supporters and well wishers are. b) As a related matter, it enables Recovery 2.0 to exercise some control over who posts the badge — the beauty of sell side advertising is that bloggers get to pick and choose whichever organization they want to support; however, the obvious danger is that the badges get displayed on blogs that the organizations wouldn’t want to appear on. So by hosting and serving the Recovery 2.0 badge, we enable Recovery 2.0 to potentially take out the badge from any blog or site they don’t want to appear on. c) Finally, because we host the badges ourselves, we can offer attractive user features such as badge rotation — if you want to support several organizations on your blog but don’t want to sidebar to look like a “christmas tree”, you can have several badges rotate on your page ( i.e., change each time the page is refreshed) — that’s the option that Jill, who commented on your blog post, chose, for example.

That all sounds pretty reasonable. Thanks, guys, for clearing that up. I can’t wait to read your blog. Let me know when it’s available ;)

Does anybody know if “Word of Blog” is at all legitimate (you can get to it via wordofblog dot net — I don’t want to link to them for now)? I got email from them today asking for a link to them for Recovery 2.0, which is cool and something I support, but I’d really rather not support somebody collecting links to sell ads or whatever. Can anybody vouch for them? Jeff Jarvis, are you out there? Are these folks legit?

Most of the groups on the site seem to be pretty typical leftist pap — “Impeach Bush” and the like (I’m all for the left, and my opinion of our president is fairly negative, but for cryin’ out loud you can’t impeach somebody just because you don’t like them). I’d feel a lot better about this site if more of the people using it made sense….

I stumbled upon the wonderful Rules for Drunk Bastards today, which imparts some excellent alcohol wisdom. They’ve got rules for drinking alone and in groups, what to drink for men and for women, various and sundry suggestions regarding kids and pets at the bar, and any number of other useful hints and tips that are well worth reading if you enjoy alcohol even a little bit. There was one item in particular that really made me think:

Adopt a new favorite cocktail on a seasonal basis.

This is a fine rule, and one that I’ve known about for some time now, yet I’ve not followed it. I’ve been stuck on the martini (6:1 with Bombay Sapphire) for about eighteen months now. It’s a fine, fine drink, but enough’s enough. So I ask you, Lazyweb, what should my new favorite drink be?

Those of you who know me personally know that I am at times a bit of a snob, and that when it comes to alcohol the snobbery is in effect 24/7. By way of example, for every apple “martini” you order, I will loathe you for an hour. Probably not right there at the bar, but later on, in my own time, I’ll get to it, and it will be intense. It’s simply not a proper drink, and it offends my delicate sensibilities.

This perhaps unfortunate trait makes picking out a new favorite cocktail a decidedly non-trivial affair. It’s got to be something classic; there’s a reason the martini lasted quite so long for me. It can’t be anything sweet or frozen or commonly served in an “ultra lounge” or to college students. I’m not incredibly particular about the base booze, but gin definitely tops vodka, bourbon beats rye and if you even think of mixing a single malt scotch whisky with anything other than the slightest amount of room-temperature spring water, I’ll see to it that you’re removed from the bar, never to return.

There’s the tempting and expedient route of just drinking what Sinatra drank, but I’m really not that big a fan of Jack Daniels. Charles Bukowski would have an opinion on the matter, but I can’t see myself ordering T-Bird or MD 20/20 at a cocktail party. Poe, Picasso and many others did wonderful things with Absinthe, but that’s hard to come by in the states.

So please, Lazyweb, help me out. What should my cocktail of choice be this fall? Leave a recipe in the comments and I’ll give it a go (or at least a snarky remark).